Coin selector device



July 9, 1963 w. A. PATZER 3,096,864

COIN SELECTOR DEVICE Filed Nov. 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 x i-Ga I6 INVENTOR.

' William ajaiyer July 9, 1963 w. A. PATzER 3,096,364

COIN SELECTOR DEVICE Filed Nov. 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

llJz'llz'anz CZ. Buyer BY 3,096,864 COIN SELECTOR DEVICE William A. Patzer, Chicago, 111., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Reed Electromech Corporation, Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 695,090 4 Claims. (ill. 194-102) This invention relates to a device for separating coins into their various denominations, and more particularly to a device for separating coins on the basis of their differences in size.

Devices for testing coins and separating them into various denominations, and for rejecting spurious coins, are an essential part of most vending machines. Some of these devices, such as those described in the copending application Serial No. 405,936, filed on January 25, 1954, now Patent 2,823,783, can separate coins into denominations of quarters, dimes, and nickels, and can reject spurious coins without the use of any moving parts. This is a particularly valuable feature, since many of the previous devices that depended upon moving parts were unsatisfactory because corrosion or the accumulation of dirt in the device, after protracted use, would jam the mechanism and require shutdown not only of the testing device but the entire vending machine until repairs could be efiected.

The separation of the real coins from spurious imitations having the same dimensions is based on the fact that when a good electrical conductor moves in a magnetic field, eddying currents are induced in it, and these are accompanied by the rise of a magnetic field in the conductor which interacts with the first-mentioned magnetic field and causes an attractive force to be exerted on the conductor. Accordingly, when coins are rolled down a runway past a permanent magnet, the attractive force, or the degree they will be retarded by the at tractive force, will depend upon their conductivity, and this in turn will depend upon their composition.

For example, to separate dimes from their counterfeits, a permanent magnet is positioned adjacent the dime runway to slow the conductive dimes so that when they leave the runway they will follow a controlled path which will lead them to gently strike or graze a deflecting abutment. This in turn will cause the dimes to fall into the dime outlet chute. On the other hand, similarly dimensioned coins which are made from a material which is not retarded by a magnet will hit the deflecting abutment with a greater force, and this will cause these coins to bounce over the dime outlet chute and move downwardly in a path which leads them against still another abutment. This again deflects the coins, cau ing them to follow a V-shaped path through the device which directs them into the coin reject chute.

Changing economic requirements make it desirable to adapt the device described in the abovementioned copending application for accepting pennies. Since pennies are most similar to dimes in size, the dime runway might easily be modified to accommodate them. If this is done, the pennies Will also be slowed by the perm-anet magnet because they too are made from a conductive material, but inasmuch as they are not composed of silver, they will be afiected differently by the permanent magnet, and this difference, along with their differences in size and Weight, will prevent them from following the controlled path for the dimes described above. Consequently, the pennies will strike the two 'abovementioned deflecting abutments and will follow the path of the defective or spurious dimes. These pennies must then be separated from those coins which are to be rejected by the machine.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to ice produce a multiple coin-testing device which includes means for testing coins having the size of a cent piece, and it is a related object to produce a device of the type described for the testing of coins to separate pennies from dime-shaped counterfeits.

A further object of this invention is to provide 43 testing device of the type described for accepting quarters, n-ickels, dimes and pennies, for separating the coins in their various denominations, and for separating the spurious coins of the one denomination from legitimate coins of the same denomination.

A still further object is to produce a coin-testing device which is simple in construction and effective in the separation of legitimate from spurious coins of various denominations.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent when read in the light of the accompanying specification and drawings wherein FIGURE 1 is a front elevational View of the coin-testing and separating device constructed according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction indicated;

FIGURE 3 is a fragment of the front elevational view of the coin-testing and separating device with the outer plate, magnet, and feeler removed;

FIGURE 4 is an inside view of the outer cover plate showing the inclined guideway leading over the trap door;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken 'on the line 55 of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction indicated;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURES 1 and 3 and looking in the direction in dioated;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIGURE 3 and looking in the direction indicated; and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIGURES 1 and 3 and looking in the direction indicated.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the coin-testing and separating device indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 comprises a housing 12, including a pair of vertical front and rear plates or portions 17 and 19, see FIGURE 6. The housing also includes a top portion with a coin-receiving chute 16 rigidly mounted thereon. Outlet chutes for quarters and nickels and a coin reject chute for defective or spurious coins are inside the housing. These are defined by a flat plate 21 which is held by any conventional means (not shown) in spaced relation to plate member 17 by means of spacer members 23 for permitting the quarters and nickels to pass therebetween. An additional plate 25 is secured to flat plate 21. This plate has an offset portion 27 for letting the defective or spurious coins move therein, see FIGURE 2.

The housing is provided with a sorting means for separating the coins dimensionally. These means, which are described more fully in the copending application Serial No. 405,936, filed January 25, 1954, include a plurality of vertically spaced slots or openings 18, 22 and 26 which are formed in the front portion or plate 17. Backing plates 20, 24 and 28 integral with the front portion 17, are upwardly inclined from the bottom edges of these openings. Opposite these openings and backing plates in plate 17, are outwardly projecting arcuate portions 29' in plate 19, one of which is shown in FIGURE 6.

Powerful permanent magnets 30 and 32 are rigidly attached to the front portion 17 of the housing, and are positioned closely adjacent the vertically spaced inclined quarter and nickel runways 34 and 36. These runways, shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, are mounted on the inner surface of the front portion 17 along the bottom edge of each of the abovementioned openings, and cooperate with the sorting means, so that each runway carries coins within a particular dimensional range.

A rectangular slot 44 is formed at the opposite edge of the front portion 17 of the housing. A fork member 46, provided with a perpendicular abutment or anvil member 48, is adapted to be secured to the front portion 17 with the abutment or anvil member 48 inside the slot. A lock bolt 50, in threaded engagement with the front portion 17, is adapted to adjustably clamp the tines of the fork member to portion 17. The abutment member 48 is positioned in slot 44 where it is adapted to be engaged by coins having substantially the same dimensions as quarters, but which are not properly slowed by the permanent magnets. This causes these spurious coins to engage abutment member 48, with such force that they rebound over the quarter outlet chute 65, see FIGURE 2, and into one of the coin reject chutes 52 inside the housing.

'Spaced below slot 44 is another slot 54. A fork member 56 is provided with a lever member 58 which is pivoted at 9. The end of this member is provided with a perpendicular abutment or lug 60 which is adapted to penetrate the slot 54 and engage its sides. The lever member 58 is biased by a weight 62, so the edge of the lug 60 always abuts the upper edge of the slot 54, when in rest position. The entire fork member is secured to the front portion 17 of the housing by means of a lock bolt 64. The position of the abutments i8 and 60 is critical because the device is designed so that a genuine quarter will follow a controlled are after it leaves the end of the runway, and this are will cause it to pass to the right of abutment member 48 and to the left of abutment member 60. This additional abutment member 60 makes the compositional test for quarters much more sensitive since, as stated above, if a spurious quarter moves too fast after it leaves the quarter runway, it will strike abutment member 48 and rebound into the coin reject chute 52 inside the housing, while if the spurious coin is affected by the magnet so it moves too slowly when it leaves the quarter runway, it will fall into engagement with abutment member 60, which will also deflect it into the coin reject chute 52.

A coinreject and scavenging device for separating the vertical housing plates and releasing jammed coins is provided. This device comprises an actuating arm 70 which is pivotally secured to the front portion 17 of the housing' at 72, see FIGURE 1. A coil spring 74' is secured at one end to a fixed lug 76 on the front portion 17 and is secured at the other end to an extension 7 8 on the actuating arm 70 for returning it to a rest position after it is depressed. A plurality of link members 86 and 32 are connected. to the actuating arm, and these are adapted to actuate a plurality of scavenging members for dislodging spurious coins magnetically held in engagement with the permanent magnets. On one scavenging member 84 a combined scavenging and coin-retarding and deflecting member 86 is pivotally mounted. This combined member includes a flat base plate 87 which is pivotally connected to the scavenging member 84 at a pivot 89. An elongated flat leaf spring 91 is secured at one end 93 to the base plate by any conventional means such as a rivet. A conical point "95 is secured to the opposite end of the ieaf spring. This point is perpendicular to the leaf spring 91 and projects through an opening 97 in the base plate, see FIGURE 8. In operation, coins passing down the dime runway '38 graze the point 95, see FIGURE 8, and aredeflected and slowed thereby. 'I his assists the permanent magnet 1114 in controlling the speed of the legitimate coins. if a. spurious coin should become jammed underneath the point 95, depressing the actuating arm 70, it will rotate the combined member 86- in the counterclockwise direction and cause the point 95 to push the jammed coin into a reject chute.

The upper portion of the front plate 17 is provided with an arcuate slot 100, and an adjacent rectangular slot 161. A plate member 108 integral with and downwardly projecting from lever arm 70 is provided with an ovalshaped opening 105. A cam-riding plate 102 is pivotally mounted on the inner surface of the front portion 17 by any conventional means (not shown). This cam-riding plate has an integral actuating lug 107 which projects through the oval-shaped opening in plate member 103 and through the arcuate slot 1% in front portion 17. A disk-shaped cam member 104 is rotatably mounted on the rear plate 19 by any conventional means (not shown), and a portion of the periphery of this cam member extends through the rectangular slot 101. With this arrangement, depressing lever 7 0 forces the cam-riding plate 102 to ride over the periphery of the cam member 104, separating the spaced vertical plates 17 and 19, and permitting the jammed coins to fall through the housing to one of the coin reject chutes. The operation of this coin reject and scavenging device is described more fully in copending application Serial No. 365,011, filed June 30, 1953, now abandoned, to which reference is now made.

To this point, the elements described have largely been employed in coin testers similar to that described in the copending application Serial No. 405,936, filed January 25, 1954, which is similar in appearance and operation to the one disclosed in this case, and to which reference is again made for a fuller explanation of the various parts so far disclosed. The main difference between that coin tester and the one disclosed in this case is in the ability to accept and separate pennies as well as quarters, dimes and nickels. In the preceding case, an abutment was positioned adjacent slot 26 inside the housing which permitted only coins the size of dimes to pass down the runway 38. Since dimes and pennies are close together in size, removing this abutment permitted runway 38 to be utilized for carrying both pennies and dimes.

As seen in FIGURES 1, 3, and 6, an adjustable member 31 is mounted on the inclined backing plate 28 by means of a bolt '33. This bolt extends through an elongated slot 35 formed in member 31, and is in threaded engagement with the backing plate 28. This adjustable member has an inwardly projecting lug 37 which is positioned so that spurious coins which are smaller than a dime but which are too thick to pass through the outlet slot 39 to the coin reject chute, see FIGURE 6, are held by the lug and prevented from moving down the runway 38 and jamming the mechanism.

After the pennies and dimes and other similarly dimensioned coins move down the runway 38 past the abutment or lug 37, they encounter an outwardly curved deflecting member 106, integral with plate 21, see FIG- URES 3 and 7. This member deflects the coins so they move onto a plate 108 which is parallel to the front portion 17 of the housing, and which is removably secured thereto by any conventional means (not shown). At the same time the coins engage the inwardly projecting springbiased point 95 on the combined scavenging and coinretarding and deflecting member 86, see FIGURE 8. This engagement slows the coins and again deflects them into sliding contact with the plate 108. An additional plate member 110 is secured to plate 108 by any conventional means (not shown). This plate member has a downwardly inclined edge 112 which acts as a runway so that when the coins move onto plate 108 they encounter this runway and roll down it, see FIGURES 1 and 3.

The powerful magnet 114 described above is rigidly secured, to a pivot plate 116. This pivot plate is provided with spaced parallel shaft-receiving lug bearings 118. These lug bearings are closely adjacent to parallel l-ug bearings 120, outwardly projecting from plate 108. A shaft 122 extends through the aligned openings in these lug members pivotally securing the permanent magnet to the plate member 108. A conventional coil spring 124 mounted on shaft 122, acts to bias the magnet against the plate, see FIGURE 1. This pivotal connection between magnet 114 and plate member 108 permits the plate member surface to be easily cleaned and polished when dirt or corrosion form on it which would otherwise retard the speed of the coins.

After the coins leave the end of the runway extension 112, they pass between the inner surface of the permanent magnet 114 and the plate member 103. This requires that the clearance between the plate member 108 and the inner surafce of the permanent magnet be properly adjusted. This can be done by giving the plate member 110 a double function. As seen in FIGURE 1, the end lug or projection 126 on plate 116 which supports the permanent magnet 114 is spring biased against plate member 110. Consequently, the plate 110, in addition to forming the runway extension 112, is made thick enough to hold the inner surface (not shown) of the permanent magnet 114 far enough away from the outer surface of plate 108 to permit the dimes and pennies and other similarly dimensioned coins to freely pass between them.

When coins leave the permanent magnet 114, they strike an abutment 128, see FIGURE 1. This abutment is integral with the fork member 139 which is adjustably secured to an outer plate member 132 by a bolt 133. This outer plate member is removably secured to plate member 188 by bolts 134 and rivet member 136. Spaced below the fork member 130 is another fork member 138. This fork member is provided with a lever member 140 which is pivoted at 142. This lever member has an inwardly projecting abutment 144 which extends through the base of an L-shaped slot 146 which is formed in the plate member 132. A weight 141 secured to the lever member 140 acts to keep the abutment 144 biased against the upper edge of the base of the slot 146. This structure is similar to the arrangement of the abutments 48 and 60 which, as described above, separate quarters from their spurious imitations. Here the abutments 128 and 144 act to separate dimes from pennies and other coins having the same general dimensions. These abutments are adjusted relative to each other so that genuine dimes 14 3 properly slowed by the permanent magnet 114 will graze the right side of abutment 128 and then will drop and graze the left side of the pivotal abutment 144 and fall into the 'dime outlet chute 148, see FIGURE 2. Pennies 145 and defective or spurious dimes will follow another path because of differences in size and composition from the genuine dime or differences in their frictional resistance. This path will cause them to engage abutment 128, and this engagement will deflect these coins into abut ment 144. This engagement will deflect these coins onto the downwardly inclined runway 150 leading to the coin reject slot 164 along the bottom edge of the inner surface of the outer plate 132. The spacing between the inner surface of the plate member 132 and plate 108 is just large enough to permit the coins to freely roll down the runway, but it is too small to permit them to topple off, see FIGURE 2.

This runway is formed in two sections which are separated by an exit opening or penny outlet slot 155 which is somewhat larger than the diameter of a penny. A trap door, indicated generally by the reference numeral 152, is provided for closing this exit opening. The trap door has a base portion 154 which is aligned with and forms a continuation of the runway sections 150 when the trap door is closed. The outer plate 132 is provided with a pair of integrally formed, parallel, and outwardly projecting lug bearings 156', see FIGURES 1 and 5. The base 154 of the trap door has an outwardly projecting arm 158 upon which are mounted spaced parallel lug bearings 160, see FIGURE 8. A shaft is adapted to penetrate the aligned openings in all the lug members to pivotally hold the trap door 152 to the outer plate 132, see FIGURE 5. A weight 162 is secured to the outer portion of arm 158 to bias the trap door to a closed position, see FIGURES 4 and 8. This weight is less than the weight of a penny, so the trap door is adapted to open and let a penny fall through the outlet slot when a penny rests on base 154 on the trap door 152.

A plate member 149 is adjustably mounted on plate 153 by any conventional means to cause the penny to rest on the base portion 154 of the trap door 152. This plate member is provided with a downwardly inclined deflecting and wedging edge 157. The position of this plate member 149 on plate 108 is adjusted so the spacing 159 between edge 157 and the upper surface of the base of portion 154 of the trap door is less than the diameter of a penny, but greater than the diameter of a dime. With this arrangement, when coins the size of pennies roll down the runway 150, they are stopped against continued movement over portion 154 of the trap door 152 by the wedging effect of this edge 157 with the upper surface of the base portion 154 of the trap door, which prevents further motion of the pennies or coins having that dimension. On the other hand, defective or spurious dimes are undisturbed and roll over portion 154 of the trap door. before it has time to open, and move down to the exit coin reject slot 164. This is an important feature because when genuine dimes become deformed or become coated with some substances which affect their movement in the machine, they will be rejected. In such a case, it is essential that these genuine but unacceptable coins be returned to their owner. The pennies and coins the size of pennies which come into engagement with the wedge 157 are cammed downwardly which, in combination with their weight, overcome the biasing force of Weight 162 and cause the trap door to open, whereby they will leave the device 10 through the penny exit slot 155.

The invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof as set forth in the claims, and the present embodiment is therefore to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and it is intended to include all changes which come within the scope and range of the claims.

-I claim:

1. A coin testing and separating device comprising in combination a housing, said housing having coin inlet and outlet openings and runways to permit the passage of coins therethrough, a first runway in said housing carrying both pennies and dimes, means for separating genuine dimes from spurious dimes and pennies on their composition independently of their paramagnetic properties, said means retarding the speed of the coins on said one runway to an extent dependent on their composition, means in spaced relation to the exit of said first runway and positioned to permit genuine dimes moving at predetermined speeds to follow one path while defective and spurious dimes and pennies moving at different speeds are caused to follow a different path, a second runway positioned so it is part of the path followed by the defective and spurious dimes and pennies, said second runway downwardly and oppositely inclined with respect to said first runway with the exit of said first runway in vertically spaced relation to the entrance of said second runway, and means on said second runway for separating the spurious and defective dimes from pennies on the basis of their size.

2. A coin-testing and separating device comprising in combination a pair of verticaly disposed plates spaced to permit the free passage of coins downwardly therebetween in response to gravitational forces, vertically spaced inclined runways positioned between the plates in the path of the coins passing downwardly therebetween, sorting means associated with each runway for sorting the coins dimensionally so that each runway carries coins within a particular narrow dimensional range, said sorting means including a plurality of openings in one of said plates, each opening extending upwardly from the surface of a runway, a backing plate for each opening, each backing plate extending upwardly and outwardly from the lower edge of the opening, at least one runway adapted to carry different denominations of coins along a path, and means associated with said one runway for separating the coins on the basis of their composition independently of their paramagnetic properties and on the basis of their size, said size separating means including a deflecting and wedging means and an exit means, said deflecting and wedging means positioned adjacent said one runway and operating to stop all coins moving thereon beyond a predetermined size limit at a point above said exit means, said exit means connected to said one runway and mov able to permit said stopped coins to pass therethrough to one exit opening, whereas all coins below said predetermined size limit remain unaffected by said wedging and deflecting means and continue undisturbed along said path to another exit opening.

3. A coin-testing and separating device comprising in combination a pair of vertically disposed plates spaced to permit the free pasage of coins downwardly therebetween in response to gravitational forces, vertically spaced inclined runways positioned between the plates in the path of the coins passing downwardly therebetween, sorting means associated with each runway for sorting the coins dimensionally so that each runway carries coins within a particular narrow dimensional range, said sorting means including a plurality of openings in one of said plates, each opening extending upwardly from the surface of a runway, a backing plate for each opening, each backing plate extending upwardly and outwardly from the lower edge of the opening, at least one runway adapted to carry difierent denominations of coins, and means associated with said one runway for separating the coins on the basis of their composition independently of their paramagnetic properties and on the basis of their size, said size separating means including a plate member and a trap door, said plate member adjustably mounted on said housing in spaced relation to said trap door and having a deflecting and wedging edge portion, said trap door pivotally connected to said housing, means biasing said trap door to a closed position, a portion of said trap c) door forming a part of said one runway when in a closed position, the separation between the deflecting and wedging edge of said plate member and said portion of the trap door forming a part of said one runway such that all coins above a predetermined size limit are wedged and stopped between said deflecting and wedging edge of said portion of said trap door, whereby the weight of said stopped coins is sufiicient to overcome the biasing means on said trap door and cause it to open to permit said stopped coins to pass therethrough, whereas all coins below said predetermined size limit are un'aflected by said plate member and pass undisturbed between its deflecting and wedging edge and said portion of said trap door to another exit opening.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 3 wherein said bias ing means on said trap door comprises an arm rigidly connected to said portion of said trap door forming part of said one runway and projecting outwardly from said housing, pivot means extending through said arm and rotatably connected to said housing for pivotally connecting said trap door thereto, a Weight mounted on the end of said arm on the opposite side of said pivot means from said portion of said trap door and forming a part of said one runway for forcing said trap door to a closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 459,673 Bolton Sept. 15, 1891 985,789 Demon Mar. 7, 1911 1,428,632 Hendrickson Sept. 12, 1922 1,891,640 Gottfried Dec. 20, 1932 2,026,262 Wadsworth Dec. 31, 1935 2,170,897 Hoban Aug. 29, 1939 2,230,352 Hoyt Feb. 4, 1941 2,292,628 Fry Aug. 11, 1942 2,442,890 Gabrielsen June 8, 1948 2,453,437 I-Iokanson Nov. 9, 1948 

1. A COIN TESTING AND SEPARATING DEVICE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A HOUSING, SAID HOUSING HAVING COIN INLET AND OUTLET OPENINGS AND RUNWAYS TO PERMIT THE PASSAGE OF COINS THERETHROUGH, A FIRST RUNWAY IN SAID HOUSING CARRYING BOTH PENNIES AND DIMES, MEANS FOR SEPARATING GENUINE DIMES FROM SPURIOUS DIMES AND PENNIES ON THEIR COMPOSITION INDEPENDENTLY OF THEIR PARAMAGNETIC PROPERTIES, SAID MEANS RETARDING THE SPEED OF THE COINS ON SAID ONE RUNWAY TO AN EXTENT DEPENDENT ON THEIR COMPOSTION, MEANS IN SPACED RELATION TO THE EXIT OF SAID FIRST RUNWAY AND POSITIONED TO PERMIT GENUINE DIMES MOVING AT PREDETERMINED SPEEDS TO FOLLOW ONE PATH WHILE DEFECTIVE AND SPURIOUS DIMES AND PENNIES MOVING AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS ARE CAUSED TO FOLLOW A DIFFERENT PATH, A SECOND RUNWAY POSITIONED SO IT IS PART OF THE PATH FOLLOWED BY THE DEFECTIVE AND SPURIOUS DIMES AND PENNIES, SAID SECOND RUNWAY DOWNWARDLY AND OPPOSITELY INCLINED WITH RESPECT TO SAID FIRST RUNWAY WITH THE EXIT OF SAID FIRST RUNWAY IN VERTICALLY SPACED RELATION TO THE ENTRANCE OF SAID SECOND RUNWAY, AND MEANS ON SAID SECOND RUNWAY FOR SEPARATING THE SPURIOUS AND DEFECTIVE DIMES FROM PENNIES ON THE BASIS OF THEIR SIZE. 